Opioid use in Canada is increasing and we need to know how that affects maternal and child health. Clinical studies have been unable to conclusively determine the risks of prenatal (before birth) exposure to opioids. Robust, population-based data on perinatal and neurodevelopmental outcomes of in utero opioid exposure is necessary to understand this emerging health crisis.

BORN data is being linked to health administrative records within the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) to estimate and compare rates of:

• adverse perinatal and neonatal outcomes
• neurodevelopmental problems
• rates of health service utilization up to six years of age in children born to mothers with and without opioid use in pregnancy